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Tiarella
“There once was a queen who ruled these woods. She cared for this forest as any dryad would their own tree. There was peace here. Those with good in their hearts found her forest a safe haven of sorts. Makes you wonder what happened to her.” -Elimistara, lorekeeper. History Tiarella was once the hamadryad that ruled what is now known as the Nocturne Wood outside of Fiend’s Reach. Under her rule the forest denizens prospered in peace. She was regarded as a minor deity within those woods. The humanoids that lived within the woods prayed to her for abundance for their crops, health for their children, and peace for their next year. She happily answered those humanoid’s prayers as they lived in harmony with the woods. The old fey that are familiar with the area have different stories for how Tiarella came to rule these woods. Some tell stories of a dryad visited by Cernunnos and gifted with a forest to protect. Others tell tale of a hamadryad that appeared one day smelling of ash; within days the forest was littered with dead fey, and had a new queen. Still other fey will claim that one day there was merely a change in the forest. That a hamadryad was ruling as if it had always been this way, and the redcaps were gone, as if it had always been this way. No one knows how long Tiarella ruled over her woods, but after a time things changed. A massive storm wracked the nearby coast. Tiarella lost contact with the aquatic fey that lived in those waters, and sensed a sinister presence flowing out from the sea. She turned towards protecting her peoples more and more. The edges of the forest became hostile territory to those that sought to get in. The humanoids that once prayed to Tiarella were afflicted by a strange sickness. Their flesh became soggy and some drowned on dry land. They pleaded with the forest queen to save them, but in her fear she turned her forest against them. Some blamed a lightning strike for the ensuing fires, but Tiarella blamed the humanoids she betrayed. They were dead within a month. The stories go quiet regarding the fey kingdom in this forest, and of its queen after this. When the unnamed paladin came to found Fiend’s Reach the Nocturne Wood held no indication of a dryad ruler. The fires certainly seemed to have scarred an area of the forest; haunted by mad ghosts and mindless undead. Appearance Stories of Tiarella state that she was a beautiful dryad. She was taller than most dryad, and held a regal posture. Tiarella’s skin looked like polished birch wood, and her hair was filled with cherry blossoms. No one in living memory has seen her first hand, and no depictions of her exist or have survived though. The rumors in the area of a mad tree spirit describe her with charred ash wood skin and hair made of thorns. Relationships During her rule Tiarella was said to have a friend in all of her subjects. Her rulership was supposedly unquestioned in the forest. Her enemies were those that sought to bring ruin to the forest. Some would despute what ‘ruin to the forest’ meant though. There are many tales of sinister fey suddenly going silent or disappearing. Tiarella’s response was always that the safety of her forest was her only concern. Category:Character